


TXF: The Case in Denali, AK and other stories

by MuddyPuppy



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F, TXF AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3934837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuddyPuppy/pseuds/MuddyPuppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To add to the pile of never ending (hopefully) X-Files AU's.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” Myka began again, “why don’t you tell me what is it I’m looking at.”</p><p>HG’s eyes took on a particular gleam of excitement that had Myka internally, and maybe a little outwardly, cringing already. Helena picked up the picture and held it in front of her like a prized trophy. “Bigfoot,” she exclaimed happily.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Myka hurried off the elevator and into the lower levels of the FBI building. She wasn’t late, but she was running behind her usual habit of getting there earlier than needed, if only to try and beat Helena there for once. She almost never did, the office was HG’s first home while her actual apartment was the second place Myka would ever try looking for the sometimes hard to find woman. Today was no different as she waltzed in to find HG Wells sitting behind her desk with a few open case files in front of her, dark hair blocking either a face full of concentration or the woman had fallen asleep over her work again.

“Morning,” Myka said and the awake Helena Wells looked up with a smile.

“Hey you,” Helena replied and Myka repressed an eye roll. The greeting was the same one she’d gotten since day two of their partnership. She’d stopped questioning why the woman couldn’t simply reply with a hello or good morning like normal people years ago. “One of those for me?” HG asked of the coffee cups in Myka’s hand.

Myka set both drinks down on her desk, slipping off her coat and placing it properly over the back of her chair before running a smoothing hand through her hair. “You’re in luck, I’m still not quite up to a two lattes at once habit.” She grinned and walked herself and the coffees over to stand behind Helena, placing one in front of the grateful woman. “What’s all this?” She put one hand on the desk and bent over HG’s shoulder, peering at the case files curiously.

Helena straightened her posture to take a full gulp of her coffee, the motion bringing her face delightfully closer to Myka’s and she hummed appreciatively, presumably at the caffeine fix. “Tell me,” she said, turning her attention back to the papers in front of her. “What do you see there?” She pointed at a picture on the desk. Myka leaned in closer to get a better look and Helena watched her study the photo.

The black and white picture was grainy and featured a bad zoom job of a blurry figure. Myka squinted at it for a moment before looking at Helena. “A bear behind a tree?”

Helena shook her head with blatant disappointment. “After all these years, have I taught you nothing?”

A smirk took over Myka’s features and she looked knowingly at the woman. “Oh you’ve taught me plenty.” Helena smiled smugly until Myka continued, “Not concerning anything I actually wanted to know about of course or anything remotely useful in normal social circles, but if I ever need to hold a conversation about the supposed texture of an alien’s skin I could absolutely do so.”

“Forgive me for trying to save you from mundane dinner conversations,” Helena replied with a bit of a wounded air and Myka smiled before knocking their shoulders together.

“So,” Myka began again, “why don’t you tell me what is it I’m looking at.”

HG’s eyes took on a particular gleam of excitement that had Myka internally, and maybe a little outwardly, cringing already. Helena picked up the picture and held it in front of her like a prized trophy. “Bigfoot,” she exclaimed happily.

Myka looked at the photo, then at Helena, then back to the photo with disbelief. “Bigfoot,” she repeated dumbly. HG nodded proudly and shuffled through the papers for another just as equally unclear photo and grandly showed it to Myka whose face remained unimpressed.

Helena shook the pictures at her. “Oh come on, Myka. How can you deny that these pictures have captured something that is yet to be fully discovered? I’ve got the proof right here!”

Myka remained unmoved. “That’s what you said about the supposed shapeshifter who turned out to be a hairy mountain man with insomnia.” HG’s mouth opened, set to argue, but Myka pushed on. “And the homicidal centaur case, when it took the hunter who reported it two days to admit it was just an angry deer that beat him up?” 

Helena frowned. “Those are two cases of many that-”

“Do we need to revisit the mermaid incident of 2009?” Myka interrupted with a teasing glint in her eyes that made Helena’s own narrow.

“Even you have to admit her legs were suspiciously scaly for how toned they were.” HG combated and Myka shook her head with exasperation, moving back to the safety of her own desk.

“For the tenth time I didn’t notice her legs!” Myka insisted as she picked her phone up out of her bag and started scrolling through it. “I was too busy eyeing her seashell bra,” Myka muttered under her breath.

Helena didn’t look convinced, but asked the distracted woman, “What are you doing?”

Not bothering to look up from her phone Myka replied, “Buying us day passes for the zoo. They’ve got a grizzly bear there that I think you need to see.”

Only managing to downplay her offense a little Helena opened her mouth with exaggerated disbelief. “Myka. I know what a bear looks like. This,” she shook the picture in her hands again, “is clearly not that.”

“You’ve seen pictures of bears sure, but when was the last time you saw one up close?” Myka countered a little patronizingly.

Pursing her lips thoughtfully Helena ventured, “Last Saturday, when I showed up an hour early for our run?” She grinned back at the annoyed look Myka shot her.

“She says like it’s normal for people to exercise before the sun is up on a Saturday in February,” Myka muttered loudly enough for HG to hear. She then sighed with real exasperation. “Alright. Where was this Yeti monster purportedly sighted?”

Helena held up her hand. “Not a Yeti. Those are indigenous to the Himalayas.”

Now Myka did roll her eyes. “Indigenous. Of course. Where’s this bigfoot then?”

“Alaska. Pack your snow boots,” Helena ordered with a smile that only widened at Myka’s groan.

 

Myka stretched out her back and winced as she and Helena walked towards the lodge where they would be staying. The small plane they’d had to take to get to Denali hadn’t done her tall self any favors. She breathed in the crisp mountain air with deep greedy lungfuls, marveling at the scenery around them. She had to hand it to HG, if they were going to waste their time and the Government’s dime looking for something that didn’t exist, at least they’d be doing it in one of the most beautiful locales she’d ever seen. She was so taken with the sights around her that she didn’t notice her partner outpacing her to the entryway until she heard a hollered, “C’mon, Colorado. Get those little legs a movin’. We’ve got a Sasquatch to find!”

By the time Myka had talked herself out of getting back on the flying deathtrap and leaving her eccentric partner behind to freeze to death mid-Bigfoot hunt, she entered the lodge to find Helena already in conversation with a nice enough looking man behind the main desk. He was gesturing to a well dressed woman across the room from them when Myka walked up and looked at them questioningly.

“Chris, this is my partner, Myka Bering,” HG introduced and Myka shook the man’s hand pleasantly. “Myka, I was just asking Chris who a good person would be to ask about some of the local… sights around here.”

The man nodded enthusiastically. “I was so stoked when I heard real FBI agents were coming out here. That picture of Artie’s has generated a lot of buzz, but having the Government take an interest lends some hefty credibility.” He looked at Myka when she snorted, then covered it with a strong cough. “If you have any questions about the history of the town you’ll want to see Giselle, she runs this place. She’s lived here her whole life but just to give you a heads up…” he lowered his voice confidentially and Helena leaned in acquiescingly, “this is a small town and she may come on a bit strong because you,” he nodded at Helena appraisingly, “are just her type. And we don’t get a lot of… yous around here.” HG looked over at the beautiful innkeeper with eyebrows raised in interest, turning back to them with a cheshire cat grin that made Myka roll her eyes with real annoyance and straighten to her full height.

“We actually need to get into our room to get settled so we can begin our investigation,” Myka said, suddenly in full work mode for their very important case. “Can you help us with that?”

“Sure thing,” he replied easily to her brusque tone. “Giselle!” he hollered across the lobby and the woman turned to them with an impatient expression that quickly changed once she got a look at her new guests. She strode towards them purposefully, taking her time in eyeing a delighted Helena all the way. If she noticed the stiff woman next to her she didn’t mention nor cede to it, instead holding out her hand to Helena first and shaking it with a lingering grip. “Told you,” Chris muttered and Myka glared at the man who held up his hands in a ‘don’t kill the messenger’ gesture as he backed away.

“Agent Helena Wells. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Giselle.” They smiled at each other pleasantly before Myka’s cough interrupted them. “And this is my partner, Myka Bering,” Helena rushed to add with a chastised air. Giselle looked between them and her look of interest changed to one of resigned understanding.

“Professionally speaking,” Myka hurried to clarify. “You always leave that part out,” she accused Helena who shrugged without care.

Giselle smiled and spoke as if going through a checklist, “Professional clothing, an appropriate amount of space between you, no lingering glances or touching of any sort. I sort of assumed that’s what she meant.”

“Oh,” Myka uttered sheepishly. “Sorry. Some people assume…”

Eyeing them again Giselle continued with an air of bafflement, “Really? Not that it counts for much but I’m not really seeing any of that kind of connection between you two at all.”

Both women frowned and looked at each other then back to Giselle, one perturbed, the other with obvious disappointment. “Really?” they voiced in unison and the innkeeper fought to keep her smile hidden. She shrugged and handed them their room key. “If you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask.” She flashed Helena one last smile, the woman may have been attached but there was no harm in being nice, she wasn’t dead after all.

 

 

Their room was rustic; all wooden logs, bedposts, and floorboards lending to the woodsy feel of the place. Myka set her things down by the bed closest to the window, Helena doing the same with the bed closest to the door, as per usual. While Helena slipped into the bathroom to freshen up Myka took in the little intricacies of the room, a hand carved coat rack in the corner reminded her that they would need to get some heavy duty winter gear before trekking out the next day. Small animal figurines lined the mantle of the fireplace Myka was tempted to take advantage of and she ran her fingers along the spine of a hunched brown bear, the polished wood smooth under her skin.

“That’s pretty,” Helena remarked after emerging from the bathroom. She glanced around the room, noting the primitive absence of a television and already sorely missing the wifi signal she’d left behind in Anchorage. “Well,” she began, “It’s too late to try and locate Mr. Nielsen tonight. I say we get an early start tomorrow.” She shivered and eyed the fireplace longingly. “Beginning with a trip to the local outpost for some warmer clothes.” When Myka nodded in agreement she switched gears and smiled beguilingly. “So…” she ventured slowly, walking her fingertips along the mantle, “can I interest you in a cozy fireside dinner for two?” She nodded to the fireplace and her grin widened at the ‘Nice try, but I’m on to you’ expression Myka wore. “What?” she continued innocently, “I’m hungry, you’re hungry, it’s cold in here and that fireplace is begging for some action.”

“It sounds like it’s not alone in that either,” Myka quipped drily and Helena chuckled. Knowing she was much too tired to keep up with her partner at the moment Myka sought out the room service menu and tossed it to the woman who hummed with delight at the prospect of a hot cooked meal. “Just get me whatever,” she requested before taking a turn in the bathroom to slip into warmer and also comfier clothing. Washing her face felt so good that she decided to go all in and shower and by the time she was out dinner and a crackling fire awaited her. She turned to Helena with gratitude only to notice the woman looking at her fondly. “What?” she questioned and HG snapped back from wherever she’d been.

Helena shook her head and pushed a plate towards Myka who decided food was more deserving of her attention at that moment. They ate in companionable silence for a minute before Helena said what was on her mind. “This place really brings out the nature girl in you, I see.” She looked over Myka’s comfy-looking tank top with a loose plaid flannel shirt over the top. Damp curls and wide rimmed glasses completed the picture and HG took another healthy sip of wine.

“What’s wrong with it?” Myka’s tone was a practiced casual but Helena was quick to emphatically shake her head.

“Nothing at all,” she replied and let a slow visual trek down Myka’s form do the convincing for her which worked, according to the slight blush on the woman’s face.

“How much of that have you had?” Myka asked rhetorically, gesturing to the wine bottle before snagging it for herself and pouring a glass. She took a bite of her salmon and wild rice and hummed happily. “Good choice, thanks. What did you get?”

“Elk stew,” Helena replied and smiled at the look of distaste from her partner. “When in Rome,” was all she offered as explanation before stealing the bottle of wine back, settling back into her chair, and segueing into asking Myka to compare her mountainous hometown to the one they were currently in.

 

The bright sun streaming through the windows ensured both women were awake the next morning and they trudged downstairs in search of coffee and directions. Myka was in charge of the latter and flagged down Chris as soon as she spotted the helpful man.

“We’re looking for an Arthur Nielsen. Do you know where he lives?”

“Artie? Sure, he’s just up the road a few miles. I can take you out there later today if you’d like?”

“Thanks, but we have a rental. Can you show me where it is though?” She gestured to the map in her hands and the two of them flattened it out on the table to take a look. Chris was able to explain the gravel road route fairly easily and when they were finished Myka looked up and realized why her coffee was taking such a long time to appear. It looked like her partner had gotten sidetracked by talking to the ever so helpful Giselle and Myka told herself it was the caffeine deficiency that made her extra dour when approaching the chatting women.

“Myka,” HG exclaimed happily, handing her partner some much needed coffee. “Giselle was just telling me the best place to buy some warmer clothing. It’s not far from here, I thought we might walk?”

Helena’s sunny disposition and the better than expected coffee worked wonders on Myka’s mood and she smiled easily, even letting a little of it fall over to the innkeeper before taking another drink. “Sounds good to me.”

“This certainly is such a lovely place. It’s a shame we don’t have more time to explore it,” Helena said wistfully, taking in the picturesque town as they walked, though her hand not holding a coffee cup had to shade her eyes from the bright morning sun even as her words clouded the air in front of them.

“Yes, well I’m sure little miss Alaskan Ugg Boots wouldn’t mind giving you a tour,” Myka replied, her voice full of shade which made Helena quirk her brow with a smirk but she said nothing since they had just reached the store that promised the warmest winter clothing available.

 

Myka frowned while she adjusted the voluminous winter jacket that promised to keep her warm through an Antarctic expedition. It was ridiculously puffy and a peculiar shade of green but the sleeves were the right length and she still felt cold from just the brief walk over to the small shop so she bought it anyway. Mrs. Frederic would not be happy about the price tag on it, but all Myka had to do was mention giving the agency her dry cleaning bill for getting unexplainable goo out of her favorite work shirt and all would be good on that front.

“Ready?” Helena’s chipper voice asked and when Myka turned around to meet her partner her expression turned incredulous as she took in the flattering white winter jacket with matching boots and cashmere scarf the stylish woman had managed to procure without a problem. The world really was an unfair place. She resisted the urge to hang her head and simply nodded with a resigned air. They stepped outside, both noting with delight how much warmer they were already which made the walk back to the hotel feel like it took no time at all.

 

After only one wrong turn the agents pulled up to the small cottage where the man who had taken Helena’s sure proof picture lived. Myka naturally started for the front door, but was stopped by a hand on the collar of her new jacket. Helena used both hands to straighten out the slightly askew material, smoothing it down before smiling brightly up at Myka with satisfaction. She then turned on her heel and led the way to the door, Myka one stumbling step behind her.

“Mr. Nielsen?” The squat man in front of them nodded, eyeing the professionally dressed women at his door warily. “Agents Bering and Wells. May we come inside?”

“FBI?” When they nodded he turned his head up and scanned the sky around them then peered into the trees with narrowed eyes. Myka glared at Helena like she was at fault for something so the woman cleared her throat.

“Ah, Mr. Nielsen? We’re just here to ask you some questions about a photo you posted online,” Helena reassured him quickly.

“The Sasquatch Sightings in the Northwest page?” Artie asked, only paying them half his attention as he reluctantly let them into his house.

“Yes, that’s the one,” Helena confirmed while trying to get a better look at the mess of papers atop the man’s desk which took up a good portion of the room. When Artie caught her he did an accusing double take and body blocked the desk, not minding Helena’s defensive look in return.

Myka snorted in spite of herself and when Helena turned to her questioningly she muttered, “Why am I not surprised you troll those message boards. What’s your username; BigfootBeliever69? AlienGurrl? UFOs4Lyfe?”

Paying her partner no mind HG continued to question Artie. “I was hoping you could walk us through the day of the sighting. You were tracking foxes, I believe you said?”

Artie sat in his large chair and adjusted his glasses so Helena sat beside Myka on his uncomfortably lumpy couch. “The Arctic fox, yes. They’re not usually observed outdoors this early in the season, but this year there’ve been multiple sightings in the last few weeks, most likely due to the warmer than normal weather.”

Both agents nodded politely, but before he could segue into a discussion about global climate change and its affect on the Alaskan wildlife Myka piped up. “Mr. Nielsen, you’ve lived in this region for many years. Have you ever encountered something like this before?”

The man let out a barked laugh. “Ha! You want to know whether I’m one of those nuts who thinks the Aurora Borealis is really jet fuel from UFO’s and that man never landed on the moon.”

Myka simply stared at him and HG was looking offended about something so he admitted, “No, I haven’t ever seen anything like him before. Before that day I didn’t believe in any so called mythical creatures and if you’d suggested otherwise I would have cursed your name six ways from Sunday.”

“But…” Helena drew out leadingly and Artie sighed.

“But… then I saw it. Him. Bigfoot.”

“Can you walk us through that moment? Everything you saw?” Helena asked with veiled anticipation and Myka withheld a sigh.

Turning for something on his desk Artie rummaged around and spoke mostly to the wall. “I was heading back to my truck after tracking a couple of small foxes around this area.” He pointed to a spot on a map of the Denali Park. “It was dusk so visibility was getting low-”

At that point Myka cleared her throat and only after a look of irritation was thrown at her did Artie continue.

“Visibility was _low_ ,” he emphasized, “not obsolete.” Helena nodded encouragingly and elbowed Myka lightly when he spoke again. “Like I said I was headed this way when I heard a loud noise from about three hundred yards behind me. When I realized how big the whatever it was was, coming through those trees, I looked through the zoom on my camera and that’s how I got the photo. I took a few others…” He rifled through some papers and showed the women two more shots that were of even worse quality than the first Myka had seen. “But he disappeared back into the woods and I wasn’t about to follow him.” Artie took his photos back and pointed to the large blurry shape. “You see the height of him here? Against those trees that’s got to be at least nine feet or so high.”

Myka couldn’t help herself. “Grizzly bears can be-”

“It wasn’t a Grizzly bear,” Artie interrupted harshly. “I’ve lived up here my whole life. I’ve seen dozens of those bears before and not one of them comes close to the size of this thing. That’s why I took a picture, I knew I was seeing something rare and also that no one would believe me when I told them.” That last bit was obviously pointed at Myka but she didn’t seem to notice or care. Helena was still looking over the pictures and then her eyes scanned the map on the desk.

“”Mr. Nielsen, would it be too much of a bother for you to take us out to the spot where you saw the Sasquatch? Today, if at all possible?”

The answer came easily and sharp. “No.”

Helena looked indignant and retorted, “Why not?”

He waved a hand at the two agents. “Because. You want to track the thing down, probably capture it more dead than alive, then haul it back to the FBI where they can cut him open and then a whole team of agents would be out combing the rest of the state for his family, assuming they’re even out there.”

If crickets had been available they would have been unleashing a perfect symphony to match the agents’ dumfounded expressions. Carefully Myka finally spoke, “Mr. Nielsen, I assure you we only want to help validate your photographic… evidence that this creature exists.” She continued in a lowered tone and Helena scowled, “Besides, it’s highly unlikely that, even if we were to find substantial proof, the FBI would take that much of an interest.”

HG started to refute that point, but shut her mouth when Myka jabbed her with an elbow to her side. After a long moment’s pause Artie finally relented. “All right. I’ll take you to the site. But I’m not staying.”

“But you seem entirely convinced that he is a peaceful creature. Why not seek him out again?” HG questioned.

“Haven’t you ever heard of having a healthy fear of something?” Artie asked and Myka bit back a smile.

“Agent Wells takes more of a ‘beating a dead horse’ approach as opposed to having healthy boundaries,” Myka supplied with a smirk that she turned her head to hide when Helena’s wounded look hit her full force. “It’s a compliment,” she tried to sell the injured party who didn’t believe it for a second.

“As I was saying,” Artie spoke over the top of them and they quieted like chastised school kids. “Just because the Sasquatch pardoned me once, doesn’t mean I ‘m going to tempt fate and go looking for him again. He’s got his life to lead and I’ve got mine. And more’s the better if never the two meet again.”

“But,” HG piped up only to be shot a look from the burly man.

“Do you want me to take you or not?”

“Yes,” she answered a bit sullenly and Myka patted her on the back as the three of them left the house.

 

The drive behind Artie’s monstrous truck wasn’t long, though once they had parked they had to rely on the man’s spoken directions to take them to the actual spot of the sighting, since no vehicles could get through the dense woods.

“Just follow the path until you hit a small clearing. Look north and through those trees is where I spotted him. About three hundred yards away,” Artie instructed.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come along?” Myka tried but the man shook his head.

“Not to worry,” Helena said. Her mood had lifted during the car ride up as they followed Artie’s truck to the secluded spot. She hefted a bag over her shoulder and turned towards the path. “I’ve got binoculars and a telephoto lens. If this thing is out there, we’ll find him.” Artie and Myka exchanged uneasy glances as they watched Helena trudge up the path, Myka looking less than confident when Artie drove away, leaving her alone with just Helena and the Alaskan Wilderness.

 

Three hours later and the women had seen no evidence of Bigfoot. In fact, the most interesting thing they had seen was a pair of small animal tracks that Helena had insisted they follow and Myka had only just resisted leaving a trail of small stones behind them in case they got lost. Fortunately they were able to find their way back to their truck easily enough and Myka was a little surprised that Helena’s mood still showed no signs of wavering.

When asked about it Helena said, “It’s a full moon tonight, just like the night of Mr. Nielsen’s sighting. We’ll come back tonight; the setting couldn’t be more perfect!” Next to her Myka gave a long suffering sigh as she despondently looked at the bleak landscape they’d be returning to in the next few hours.

 

Six hours had never seemed so insignificant to Myka as she and Helena made their way back to the wooded area Artie had shown them in the dusk of sundown. For the fifth time in as many minutes the tired agent sighed and Helena finally said something.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so tired. You at least had a nap in the room earlier.”

Without stopping their trek Myka turned to her partner with annoyance. “That was not a nap! That was you taking up two thirds of my bed because it had a better view of the television that you said you needed to put you to sleep.”

“There was a glare on my side,” HG defended but was only met with aggravated silence. Unfortunately for Myka’s attitude the next bend in the so called trail revealed a large moose and the only thing keeping her from turning back to the truck at that point was the prospect of walking all the way back by herself in the dark forest.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Helena said as they trudged along and when Myka gave her an ‘oh really’ type look she continued, “Yes, you’re wondering how on Earth with all your schooling and experience you managed to wind up working alongside me; trekking through the Alaskan wilderness at night looking for a Sasquatch.”

Myka hid a smile. “True. Though to be fair I ponder that first bit multiple times on a daily basis so…” She erased Helena’s pout by linking their arms together and tugging the wounded woman forward towards their destination.

 

Idly wondering just how long HG would keep the pair of them out there Myka checked the time on her phone, which was the only useful thing the device could do so far off the grid. “Helena,” she groaned, “It’s nine pm. Doesn’t this thing have a curfew?”

“Patience, young apprentice,” HG replied, not bothering to take her eyes from the tree line.

“The middle of desolate forest where no one but an imaginary creature can hear you scream is really not the best place to call me that,” Myka said sagely. When Helena didn’t respond she turned her attention to the dark silhouette of Mount McKinley with a little petulance.

The animalistic cry that echoed through the night pierced through the companionable quiet between them and both women looked up in alarm. “Sasquatch,” Helena whispered in gleeful awe.

“Wolves,” Myka countered mockingly in the same tone. The other woman ignored her in favor of searching their surroundings with the night vision goggles she’d bummed off of Artie Neilson.

“Sasquatch are supposed to be over seven feet tall and reportedly at least five hundred pounds,” Myka spouted the factoids off in a dry manner. “I’m surprised you aren’t having any luck.”

“Oh, he’s out there,” Helena murmured with little care of Myka’s teasing and mercifully ignored the fact that the woman had also apparently done some research on her proclaimed mythical creature. “Or she of course, that’s still a bit of a gray area.”

Myka pulled a face but nodded stoically, turning to gaze at the starlit Alaskan sky in deference to watching Helena strain to hear or see the giant beast. “Now that is a wonder,” she said of the night sky untainted by city lights. She settled down on the stump she’d purposed as a chair and got lost in finding constellations, eyes occasionally drifting to her partner’s form.

The ambiguous sound broke through the night again and Myka’s head lolled in Helena’s direction. “Don’t you know any Yetti calls?” she asked, laughing when the woman kicked a bit of snow in her direction.

“Shhh!” Helena ordered sternly, waving an excited hand at the prone woman who reluctantly sat up when they heard the noise again. They waited in carefully crafted silence, Myka grinning at the way HG kept even her breathing as quiet as possible. After about fifteen minutes of nothing they were rewarded and when Myka spoke she was determined not to appear the least bit concerned.

“Is it just me or does it sound like whatever it is is getting closer?”

HG had to clear her throat in the middle of her sentence. “That’s just the… the sound reverberating off the tree line. It’s probably miles away.” As if to directly contradict her the howling sounded again and it didn’t matter whether it was a wolf, a Sasquatch, or a rabid bunny, whatever it was was too close for comfort. Myka jumped up, turning around and vainly searching their surroundings for the animal. Helena stood up too, looking in the opposite direction with the night vision goggles.

“Anything?” Myka whispered, stepping backwards until her back touched Helena’s. The other woman shook her head, leaning into their contact a little more. “These Sasquatch… are they carnivorous?” she asked hesitantly.

“Omnivorous,” Helena replied and Myka shook her head as if remembering what they were talking about. She relaxed minutely the longer the quiet held out, but kept contact with her partner just in case.

The sudden noise of something pushing its way through rustling tree branches, big and fast and right behind them, made both women scramble backwards behind snowy shrubbery just in time for three wolves to go streaking by them, not a lick of interest from any of them. The movement of their large paws on the earth was close enough to feel and Myka couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the majestic animals so close.

“Wow, look at them,” she said with awe saturating her voice.

“Something spooked them,” Helena whispered, looking through the trees again for whatever it might have been.

“It’s spooking me too,” Myka replied truthfully and they shared a smile before watching the forest anxiously. The forest went eerily quiet, which Myka didn’t feel was a good thing. She stole the night vision goggles for a turn and began copying HG’s earlier tactic of suppressing the sound of her breaths while wishing she had the ability to see through trees.

Suddenly, a large spruce tree crashed to the forest floor not too far from them and HG didn’t scream but she might have let out a small yelp. Luckily Myka was too distracted to notice; the woman had the night goggles trained on the area where the tree had just fallen. Helena looked in the same direction, in vain of course since it was too dark for her to see much further than their immediate surroundings, but when Myka made a choked noise and her jaw dropped HG scrambled to steal the binoculars away. “What did you see?” she exclaimed.

“Uh…” Myka refused to expound on that, but she didn’t need to because Helena was gasping and jumping around enough for Myka to know they had seen the same large figure.

“Myka!” Helena said gleefully and started stepping forward towards the creature that was thankfully still a moderately safe distance away. However Myka was taking no chances. She tugged the woman back to her by the back of her designer coat, not that HG appeared to notice or care. “Look at the way it’s moving,” she uttered with a wonder soaked tone. “Upright, just like a person. Only it’s got to be at least twelve feet tall. How amazing!” She fumbled for her phone which had a downloaded night vision app for just such purposes before relenting to Myka’s demand to look again. She was taking pictures and handing the gadget over when something scurried out of the brush behind them and she dropped everything in surprise.

This time it was Myka who yelped and almost lost her footing, kicking snow around in the process and making it more difficult for HG to find the binoculars. Eventually both agents were upright with their gear and Myka managed to commandeer the binoculars, though the sympathetic but not surprised, “Oh, Helena,” that she then uttered was not a comfort to her partner at all.

“What?” HG asked with alarm and when Myka simply pointed and gave the goggles back she hurried to focus back on the tree line from before. Once she saw what Myka had seen she quickly scanned the rest of the area with a desperate, “No!”

It was no use, all that she could see off in the distance was a bear, walking quite effortlessly on all four legs as bears are wont to do. She looked all around them for almost an hour, Myka being the only thing holding her back from heading off into the woods where she had seen the supposed Bigfoot by using the very real threat of the present bear as her rationale. It got darker, if possible, and colder, which was definitely possible, before a defeated Helena finally gave in to Myka’s persuasions to leave the forest.

“We’ve still got the pictures I took,” HG said as a valiant attempt to cheer herself up on the drive back. “Plus you saw it, I know you did. Say it was a bear all you want, but your jaw dropped, Myka.”

“It was a wild bear,” Myka defended, speeding more than a little to get them back to the well lit and warm lodge as fast as possible. “Of course my jaw dropped.”

HG scoffed, “You wait until we see those pictures, Myka Bering. I’ll make you eat your nay-saying words.”

 

That opportunity for Myka’s meal of crow never did come. Back at the lodge a ‘would be crying were it not for her English stoicism’ HG discovered that the camera app hadn't worked. All she had were black as night blank shots and one green picture of a large shadow against trees.

Back in their room Myka watched her dejected partner packing up her things. She worried her lip with obvious concern before coming up with an idea. “Hey, why don’t I go downstairs to the bar and get us a couple of drinks? It’s been a long night,” she offered. When Helena only shrugged she got desperate. “I’ll also see if I can hunt down a couple of those chocolate chip cookies Chris was peddling this afternoon. You start a fire, my little Pyro Pro, and I’ll be back in ten minutes tops. Whaddya say?”

“You don’t eat sugar,” was the sulky reply and Myka pursed her lips.

“I could make an exception for homemade Alaskan extra large _organic_ chocolate chip cookies on our last night,” Myka replied, carefully waiting with one hopeful foot practically out the door.

When HG merely scoffed, “Oh, because _organic_ cookies are so much healthier,” Myka knew she was green lit so she purposefully brushed past the woman who called after her. “A whiskey neat, Myka, with-”

“A soda water on the side; _I_ _know_ , you weirdo,” Myka replied from down the hallway and HG smiled as she tossed spindly branches into the fireplace.

 

The next morning Myka was waiting by the truck when Helena finally appeared from the lodge. “Sorry,” HG said as they climbed into the truck and began the short drive to the airport, “Giselle said to tell you goodbye and she also gave us vouchers for the next time we’re in the area!” Helena was too busy switching through radio stations before finding something she could hum along with to notice Myka’s face at that news.

“I’ll bet she did,” Myka muttered under her breath. Giving her partner a wary glance Myka ventured, “You’re in a good mood, considering we’re leaving with not a shred of evidence to our names.”

HG shrugged. “The lack of evidence notwithstanding I still know what I saw, what _we_ saw. Plus, now that we have a comped stay we can come back here next time we have a break in cases and do some more exploring. If we come back in the summer we could even camp out, get some full time coverage going along with a real lay of the land. Sounds like fun, right?”

Myka nodded unconvincingly and was glad for once that they never really had a break between cases. “Still,” she said, a little puzzled with all the cheeriness, “you’ve got to be at least a little upset we’re not bringing back anything solid.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” Helena countered. “As soon as we get back I’ve got loads of research to start. I have a theory that needs some fleshing out because in fact,” Helena continued assuredly, “I’m more and more convinced that what Artie Nielsen saw was not Bigfoot at all.”

“No,” Myka drew out.

“I’m afraid so,” Helena said as if she hadn’t noticed the sarcasm in Myka’s tone. “But it’s all right.”

“It is?” Myka asked with real wondering. She wasn’t exactly sure what she had seen with those binoculars after all, which was not fun for her to admit, even to herself.  Also, HG’s levity didn’t appear to be forced which was concerning in itself.

Giving her a wide glance Helena replied, “Of course. What we’ve actually stumbled upon is much more fascinating.”

It was quiet for a long time. As they reached the small airport and parked Myka bit her lip and looked at an unresponsive HG until she couldn’t take it any longer. “What did we actually stumble on?” She hated the all knowing, ‘why Myka haven’t you figured it out’ look she was currently getting and braced herself for what came next.

“Isn’t it obvious?” The look on Myka’s face told her it was, in fact, not so and she continued, “Full moon? Large mysterious creature that’s quick to disappear? Remote wilderness?” When none of that helped ease Myka’s confusion she patted her partner’s leg sympathetically and grinned. “Werewolves, Myka!”


	2. I scream, you scream...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How are we expected to work when it is this hot?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In light of the heat wave that is refusing to leave my city alone, I decided this would be a good distraction. Written quickly and without much editing, so apologies if mistakes were made.

The abrasive crinkling sound of paper being folded into an object made Myka look up. “That’s really not what I meant when I said you should work on your reports,” she informed her partner who seemed to contemplate that while she fanned herself with the improvised paper fan.

“You should have been more specific,” Helena replied listlessly, tilting her head up and examining the pencil stabbed ceiling while she wafted slightly cooler air upon her heated, glistening neck. Myka shook her head and went back to work and it was quiet for a few minutes before, “It is so. Bloody. Hot. How can I be expected to be productive under these conditions?”

Myka glanced up doubtfully. “I’ve watched you complete a stack of forms twice that high in less than fifteen minutes when it was to approve the new SUV you had determined you couldn’t live without.”

Helena shrugged, her fan ever waving. “Yes, well the car before that had been torn up in that freak alien hailstorm.” She held up a silencing hand when Myka opened her mouth. “Yes, I can most certainly vouch that it was a hailstorm due to extraterrestrial involvement. It was in Texas. In July. During one of their hottest summers on record, though it was nowhere near as hot as it is now.” Just the mention of their current muggy state made her abandon her makeshift fan in order to pull her slightly damp hair up and secure it back with a dull pencil. She glared at the few stubborn strands that fell back down but picked up the fan again, glancing across the room where Myka’s attention was studiously back upon her work. “Besides,” she added thoughtfully, “the budget request to purchase that desk of yours that you _couldn’t live without_ was also in that stack. So I wouldn’t be making any smart remarks about what forms I fill out and how quickly I do so.”

Without looking up Myka replied, “I can’t believe you still bring that up. It’s been two years. Let the desk go.”

“It makes the room feel smaller,” Helena pouted, but grinned when Myka looked up witheringly.

“You could always get rid of yours,” Myka offered. “It’s not like you’re using it,” she added, pointedly looking at the generous stack of yet to be completed forms.

“You're no fun,” Helena complained, but halfheartedly grabbed the top sheet from the pile and perused it anyway. The sound of ice being stirred around with a straw broke through her paltry attempt at work and she eyed Myka’s iced tea covetously. The drink was half gone but condensation dripped down the plastic container so enticingly that any attempt to forget about an ice cold anything was useless.

“Oh no,” Myka shook her head when she happened to look up. “I _asked_ if you wanted anything when I went to get this and you said the thought of a lukewarm soda from the decrepit machine that was only down here because they had nowhere better to put it was more abhorrent than the idea of suffocating down here in this bloody heat. And then you went on a rant about the fact that we are in a basement and the fact that it isn’t cooler down here of all places is really a matter for some investigation and that’s when I left.”

Helena took all that in impassively then couldn’t help but prod some more. “You went all the way upstairs and across the street for that,” she accused.

“I told you,” Myka began in a weary tone, “the machine down here was broken. So I went up as far as the break room and got some ice out of the freezer up there, so stop whining.” She actually had gone across the street to the Starbucks, but Helena certainly didn’t need to know that at the time she hadn’t felt like rewarding her partner’s heat induced crankiness with so much as an ice cube. Though, she thought conversely, it might have helped the battle against how many shirt buttons the woman would unfasten by the time she got back, the number being two more than usual, which was really already one too many.

Helena lapsed into a pointed silence which, if nothing else, would hopefully mean she was getting something done. Myka gave her last few sentences another run through before setting a good sized stack in her completed pile. She was halfway through the next round of case files when a tortured sigh had her releasing one of her own.

“I have an idea!” the words came out so bright and eager that Myka actually looked up. “Let’s take a break and go get some ice cream,” Helena stated with such a delighted yet beseeching tone it was practically impossible for Myka to stand resolute on the side of a solid day’s work. It was for that reason she said nothing and Helena took that to mean the answer was not quite a no. “Yes, and then we’ll come back and be all sorts of productive. Come on,” she pleaded, “you can even get one of those tutti tofruity things you pretend to enjoy.

“It’s a nonfat tofutti…” Myka trailed off, “never mind.” The dozen reasons why it was not a good idea to leave work early, because there was little chance they would be returning to the admittedly unreasonably hot office today, ran through Myka’s head but were promptly shut out by the way Helena was biting her lip with the anticipation of cold ice cream coming their way soon. “Fine,” she sighed indulgently, “but afterwards you absolutely have to finish all that.”

Yes!” Helena exclaimed victoriously as she leapt up, suddenly reenergized and ignoring Myka’s pointed finger to the pile of work on her desk. She beat Myka to the door and on the way to the elevator couldn’t help but begin in a singsong voice, “You scream, I scream… and if it’s regrettably only about ice cream then I suppose on a day like today I’ll take it.” Her eyes playfully cut over to Myka who was giving her her best ‘how do I put up with you’ expression, though when the elevator doors opened it was her that couldn’t help but brush suggestively past Helena as she got on the elevator, smirking a little at the thought of still trying to combat those undone buttons.

“Myka,” Helena said in a too coy tone. When the woman looked her way she continued over the closing doors, “You aren’t really going to make me eat one of those dreamsicle things are you? I get real ice cream, right? Myka?”


	3. Pusher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my take on the 3x17 episode called Pusher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All you need to know is there is a guy who can get into people's heads and make them do things. And that the whammy lines are direct quotes, and the reason I had to write this.

In a small basement office one of the two occupants paced a short familiar path while the other watched from her chair.

“If you think about it, there’s really no point in getting this man arrested, what with the way he can influence the minds of any guard, inmate, or Judge; the same way he did with the Judge earlier today,” Helena said tersely, swiveling to complete another circuit.

“Even if he did somehow manage to do that, there wasn’t much need,” Myka argued for the sake of arguing. “We barely had a case against him.”

“We had enough to at least hold him,” Helena replied hotly, the irritation from watching the guilty man go free still rattling at her. “But Modell got in the Judge’s head. He put the whammy on him.”

Myka gave Helena her favored deadpan look. “Please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy.”

Ignoring her Helena continued, “Even you have to admit it’s a bit suspicious, the Judge letting him off like that after a peculiarly long stare down between them.”

“Suspicious maybe,” Myka allowed, “but evidence that Robert Modell can control people’s minds? No.”

“Well how do you explain that police officer crying hysterically for someone to stop him from setting himself on fire before dropping the lighter on his gasoline soaked self right in front of us?” Helena pressed.

“I don’t know, Helena! I’m not disagreeing with you, I’m just saying I think there’s a little more to it. Maybe something a little more logical than ‘the whammy’.”

“There always is, isn’t there?” Helena returned, a bit of an edge to her dry tone.

 

After another incident involving Modell and an apparent suicide the agents found themselves at the suspect’s apartment along with the FBI team that had brought this case to their attention to begin with.

“Helena,” Myka called from Modell’s bathroom after hanging up her phone. She held up a pill bottle to show her partner, “He’s taking tegretol. It’s a medication to relieve seizures.” She gave her partner a significant look, “I just got off the phone with his doctor’s office and they said the prescription dates back to 1994.”

“Back when these alleged suicides started,” Helena filled in, tone grim. “Psychic abilities have often been linked to brain tumors. That could be why all of this is happening now.”

“And why he appears to be escalating,” Myka added, ignoring that dubious statement. “Having a brain tumor all this time, it’s possible he’s dying. Trying to enact some kind of revenge?”

“Go out in a blaze of glory?” Helena guessed. She turned to the lead agent, “I think we’re all set here, we’re going to head back.” He nodded and waved them out, but when they reached the street they were summoned to the FBI van outside the building.

“Modell just called his own apartment, he’s speaking with Agent Burst now,” the officer informed them, handing them a receiver so they could listen in as Modell taunted the lead detective about his overweight stature. When he began saying leading things about greasy foods and clogged arteries Helena started shouting into the phone.

“Hang up, Frank! Just hang up the phone now!” The lead agent didn’t respond and when Modell kept up his diatribe Helena bolted from the van, Myka running after her, up the stairs and into the suspect’s apartment where they found Burst collapsed on the floor.

HG grabbed the phone from another agent and shouted into it, “What the hell are you after?” while Myka began CPR to no avail.

 

“It’s not your fault,” Myka stated grimly as Agent Bursts’ body was loaded into the ambulance.

“He should have just hung up the phone!” Helena said, agitated and Myka sighed heavily. Her attention shifted from the emergency vehicle to the FBI van still parked nearby and she started for it, Helena a few steps behind her.

“Were you guys able to pull a trace on that call?” she asked. He responded affirmatively but also that it was just from a payphone so Modell would have been long gone. “Do you have a map of the area the payphone is in?” she questioned and when he pulled it up she snapped her fingers. “Fairfax hospital is on that same block.” She turned to Helena, “That’s where Modell’s prescription is from. I bet he gets treatments there.”

Glancing at the map Helena nodded. “It’s not far from here, let’s go.”

 

The chaotic scene that met them at the hospital unfortunately meant they had been right and a SWAT team ran through the doors in front of them, others no doubt along the perimeter, preparing to move in on Modell who had shot and killed his doctor along with a nurse’s aide.

“This is his last stand,” Myka predicted as they made their way past evacuating hospital personnel.

“I think you’re right,” Helena said. “But I also think I know what he wants, other than getting his sociopathic kicks out while he can. He’s looking for a worthy opponent. Someone whose mind he can’t easily control. One last challenge.”

Myka stopped walking as they rounded the corner into a barricade of agents with bulletproof vests and turned Helena around with a hand on her arm. She raised a no nonsense eyebrow at her partner who looked annoyingly cool and collected.

“He wants me, Myka. On the phone, while you were doing CPR on Officer Burst, he told me he knows of me, my work as a profiler.”

Myka shook her head, “Look, I know I joke about your ego, but-”

Helena interrupted, “He’s just going to keep killing anyone he can corner in this hospital. I’m the best shot we’ve got at taking him down.” She smirked, “Besides, I’m the most hard headed person you’ve ever met, remember? This should be a snap.” Myka was still emphatically shaking her head and listing the dozen reasons why this was a bad idea when Helena removed her gun and handed it over to her. “Hold this for me?” she asked with a small bolstering smile before striding past the SWAT team and down the sectioned off hallway to the room Modell had himself holed up in.

 

“I’m not going to shoot you,” Helena said, her voice was steady but sweat was gathered along her hairline. The two of them sat facing each other with Modell’s gun on the table between them.

“I could make you,” he assured her challengingly, but she didn’t take the bait as she stared him down. “I could make you shoot yourself.” She didn’t respond, but her fingers twitched on the table and he laughed. “Why so resistant about shooting me? I’m a dead man anyway.”

“I wouldn’t want to give you the satisfaction,” Helena informed him, panting slightly with exertion. They locked gazes, Modell starting to show some fatigue and then his expression changed. “Let’s make this a little more interesting.” He raised his voice so it carried into the hallway, “Oh Agent Bering.”

“No.” Helena grit out, eyes flashing to the door for half a second.

Modell continued, “Would you come in here please, Agent Bering. Your partner is in need of your assistance.” He looked positively gleeful when Myka stepped carefully through the door and he instructed her to close it behind her. She refused, then her body disobeyed her and the door slammed shut which was when Helena lunged for the gun, getting purchase and pulling the trigger pointed straight at the madman who laughed when it clicked over the empty chamber. He held up a warning hand to her, “All the other chambers are loaded, that was the first test and you passed, thanks to Agent Bering here. Why don’t you take a seat?” He gestured for Myka to sit, which she did now that she was back in control of herself, her gaze trained on Helena who looked like she couldn’t decide whether to drop the gun or keep it away from Modell.

“What are you guys talking about?” Myka asked as if this was a casual hangout session.

“Trying to figure out what happens when free will comes up against the power of one’s own mind,” Modell answered shakily, his gaze once again on Helena. She was sweating more, and she suddenly winced as the gun in her hand jerked up to press against her own temple as she shook with fear and the strain of resisting.

“Stop it!” Myka screamed, pounding her fists on the table. Modell didn’t respond; his eyes were trained on Helena’s finger which was barely holding pressure off the trigger. The second she made a choked sound and the grip on the gun changed ever so slightly he relaxed and so did Helena’s grip, her breathing sounding like she’d just run a sprinted mile. The gun was still held to her head when Modell looked to Myka.

“Take it from her,” he instructed, “or she’s gonna do it.” No one moved and he pounded his hand on the table, making her jump and reach for the gun. Her hands clasped over Helena’s and she spoke gently to her as she pried the gun out of her still clenched hand.

Once she had it free Helena collapsed into the chair and had Myka’s full attention until Modell began speaking to her in his hypnotizing way. “It’s all yours now,” he said. “This could all be over right now. Just shoot me.” Myka felt a pull and steadied herself against it, all her focus now on Modell and the gun in her hands. “Please?” he continued, “either way I win.” At the shake of her head his tone changed, pulling, coaxing her along. “Why not? I know you know how to handle a gun. You’re familiar with the weight of it, the feel of it in your hands. You know how it feels to squeeze the trigger, know how it will feel as it jerks back in your hands, you’ve got complete control over it.” The calmness in him tugged at her and she swayed forward before shaking herself out of it.

“You’re good,” he praised, pressing a hand to his head with a wince. The continued mind control was obviously taking a toll on him and he looked like he would be sick any moment. Helena stirred just then, raising her head and pulling both their focus and Myka cried out in alarm when her armed hand swung to aim at her partner.

Modell was standing, body shaking as he stared at Myka without blinking. “You don’t want to shoot me? How about her?”

Myka didn’t reply, but when her body jerked out of the chair so she was standing, still facing Helena, she made a sound like she was in pain. Her body was rigid and when Modell began demanding she pull the trigger she opened her mouth to scream but didn’t make a sound except her harsh breathing, the gun expertly trained at Helena’s head.

“Myka,” fully alert again, Helena spoke in her most placating tone, the one she rarely used because she knew how much it annoyed the other woman. Glazed over eyes met hers hesitantly and she smiled encouragingly. “That’s it, keep focused on me. You can fight this, Myka.”

When the mentalist started ordering Myka to shoot her she resisted the urge to scream back at him and kept her complete focus on Myka, holding eye contact with the woman who was at war with her body and the commanding voice in her head. Myka’s forehead had a sheen of desperation over it and she panted with effort as her grip on the gun tightened and she let out an anguished noise.

Modell’s voice got louder so Helena was forced to raise her voice as well. “Myka!” she nearly shouted, “you can beat him! I know you can.” Myka shook her head, the voice in her head was too strong and she shut tear filled eyes against the pressure.

A shot rang out. Helena jerked backwards, slow to understand what had happened until she saw SWAT team members rushing the door past the one who had fired the shot at Modell.

Myka blinked rapidly and shook her head with confusion before registering the gun still in her hands. She gasped and dropped it to the floor like it burned then tripped back from it, falling to the floor and pushing herself back to sit against the wall. Helena nodded to the agents who had swarmed in to check Modell then blocked everything else out as she crouched down beside her partner.

The woman was shaking, her eyes unresponsive to Helena’s movement until she put one hand over a trembling one. Myka inhaled sharply and flinched away, finally looking up with scared eyes.

“Myka,” Helena said softly, “it’s all right.”

Shaking her head forcefully, Myka responded, “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t in control of myself. It’s like I was watching myself from across the room. I couldn’t stop myself, I knew what was happening, but I couldn’t stop myself.” Her voice cracked and Helena’s hand found hers again, clenching reassuringly.

“It’s all right,” she repeated. “We got him.” She spared a glance across the room where they were loading the injured man onto a stretcher. After she waved the remaining SWAT agents away they were left alone. Myka was still clearly shaken up and HG started to worry about the woman going into shock. “Myka,” she ventured soothingly and the woman let out a quiet anguished sound.

“I almost shot you,” she despaired with a face to match. “I was going to _shoot_ _you_.”

Helena shook her head. “You weren’t. You didn’t.” Her hand smoothed back frizzed curls in a soothing repetitive motion that after a while seemed to help calm Myka’s erratic breaths, though the woman’s tight grasp on her hand didn’t let up. “It’s not your fault,” Helena assured her, “and I saw you through the hold he had on you. You weren’t going to do it.”

Myka wasn’t so sure of that. She shuddered as she remembered the pressure of her finger against the trigger and the utter lack of control she had felt as it increased. She almost missed HG’s joke she was so wrapped up in the memory.

“Besides, it can hardly come as a complete surprise. All the times you threatened to shoot me over the years. Especially on those long stakeouts.” The look Myka gave her was so incredulous that Helena had to stifle a smile. “Too soon?” she asked with eyes asking Myka to find it the least bit funny.

Eventually it worked and Myka cracked a small smile but it dissolved quickly and she reached her free hand out to run softly over the crown of Helena’s head down to the curve of her jaw. It was Helena’s turn to hold her breath, leaning into the contact before it was gone.

The moment stretched too long and Myka broke eye contact first, smiling nervously before HG stood and offered her a hand up. She held the door open for Myka and waited for her to fully exit before grabbing the discarded gun and checking it, finding five bullets loaded inside. She emptied it with careful hands and handed it off to an agent in the hallway before heading after her partner with a slow exhale.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After rewatching some old episodes, I basically had to write this, what with the gun pointing and the fact that they use the word 'whammy' at least 3 times. It had to be done. If you liked it let me know because I have a few others of similar fashion in mind.


	4. Small Potatoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my take on episode 4.20 of The X Files, ‘Small Potatoes’. If you’re not familiar with it all you really need know is that it involves a shapeshifter who takes on Mulder’s appearance in order to seduce Scully. The episode never really touches on the significance of that, which when I was 12 really got my goat.  
> Mulder may have let it go without comment, but HG… well she’s got to at least say something.

 

 

Low laughter broke over the soft music playing from Myka’s shuffled jazz station and Myka wiped a thumb under her eye as Helena reached for the wine bottle on the low table to refill both hers and Myka’s glasses.

“I can’t believe you got me to tell that story,” Myka said, still chuckling. “Normally I hate talking about high school.”

Helena handed Myka’s glass back to her, gesturing loosely with her own. “High school tales of woe are a necessary evil,” she supplied sagely. “Everyone’s got at least one.”

Myka narrowed her eyes as she sipped. “Maybe. Though I still refuse to believe yours. The ugly duckling to swan excuse is so overplayed. I’m not buying it.”

“I swear it,” Helena insisted, and solemnly placed her right hand down on the large book atop Myka’s coffee table.

Chuckling Myka informed her, “That’s an antique copy of Gray’s Anatomy, doesn’t exactly hold you to the truth. And you were, at worst, a commonplace duckling that had a ridiculous amount of yellow fuzz to make up for it and long legs to boot, so don’t even start.”

Helena choked out a laugh through the sip of wine she had just taken, dissolving them both into laughter as she valiantly tried to not spit it out.

“We don’t talk like this often,” Helena remarked after they’d quieted and Myka nodded slowly. “Why not, do you think?” she asked and the question brought Myka up short.

“I…” she laughed a bit nervously. “I don’t know? Not a lot of time for in depth conversations between all the monster chasing?” Helena smiled faintly, but continued regarding her with those big eyes that seemed to get closer every time she looked up. “Maybe our professional relationship stops us from getting too personal?”

“Ah, because our relationship is clearly nothing but professional,” Helena teased, leaning her head into her crooked elbow over the back of the sofa they shared. Myka watched the way dark waves of hair fell with the movement until she noticed Helena’s own gaze was staring at her, more specifically at her mouth and she swallowed hard.

“Well,” she cleared her throat, “obviously not just professional. We’re friends too. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for two people working so closely to develop a friendly rapport-” Her words cut out abruptly when Helena’s warm palm took up space on her right knee.

If a smirk could be a laugh then that’s exactly what sounded from low in Helena’s throat. “Friends,” she said in the same tone and Myka felt like half of her was already across the room, having listened to the alarm bells going off in her head, but there she sat, still on the couch, alarm bells and all. Those bells turned into sirens and megaphones that blared warnings when Helena moved closer until their knees were touching and Helena’s elbow on the back of the couch was nearly behind Myka’s head. The bottle of wine the two of them had managed to demolish was not helping the way the room started spinning and the only reason Myka didn’t close her eyes against the sensation was because she knew if she did, Helena would most certainly kiss her in that moment. So she kept them open, failing to realize that in doing so she had trained them on the other woman’s mouth and nowhere else.

“You are so beautiful,” Helena murmured, “I can hardly believe that the two of you have never…” she trailed off nervously and Myka frowned.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Helena was quick to assure with a smile and the hand on Myka’s knee slid upwards a decent, or rather indecent, amount.

Myka leapt up like a spooked gazelle. “I think that’s enough wine for me,” she laughed nervously and collected their wine glasses along with the finished bottle. Her path to the sink was cut off as Helena moved quickly around the other side to intercept her.

Helena moved slowly but intently and Myka gulped as the woman took the glassware from her hands and set everything down on the counter behind her, eyes not leaving hers for a second. If Myka had moved like a frightened gazelle before she now felt like one as dark eyes bored into her own and Myka felt her feet moving backwards as Helena encroached like the lioness she was emulating too well.

Caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, Myka thought, a wall and a warm soft place that smelled amazing and felt even better pressed against her like that. Myka swallowed hard again in conjunction with Helena’s hands finding her waist, smoothing up her body a little ways before settling around her hips. She heard a low chuckle and realized her eyes had shut at some point. She opened them only to find Helena’s face much closer than she’d anticipated and she clamped down on the strangled noise in the back of her throat. Apparently not very successfully.

Helena chuckled again and the hands on Myka’s hips tugged gently, Helena’s thumbs rubbing small circles over the pointed bones there. “Myka,” Helena dragged her name out with a hint of exasperation though her sultry look became tempered with indulgence. “Don’t you think it’s time we stopped fighting this?”

Myka didn’t know if that was a rhetorical question, but it didn’t matter since she quickly lost vocal function as Helena nuzzled, _nuzzled_ , into the side of her neck, breathing her in like a fine wine. Wine. That had to be the reason behind all of this, she thought muzzily, as Helena’s face came back into view. Though the woman had been acting a little stranger than usual all day...

The fleeting thought Myka had before a nose brushing against hers erased the capability of thinking was that this kiss wasn’t going to last very long since she’d stopped breathing somewhere around the time her back had hit the wall. Fireworks, or at least one very loud bang sounded in her head, and okay that wasn’t really surprising. Except Helena hadn’t kissed her yet, had she? And there was suddenly more light around them, coming from the hallway, let in through her open door.

Myka blinked rapidly, first at Helena in front of her who seemed to be frozen with… disappointment? Then to her open door which was when she let out something akin to a squawk and did a double take because the woman standing in her doorway couldn’t possibly be… Helena? She looked at the woman in front of her again and her eyes widened as she put everything together while the imposter before her changed back into the real form of Mr. Eddie Van Blundht.

The room began to swim and Myka’s feet slid out from under her while her back rode the wall down until she was sitting, looking between the two other people in the apartment with a woozy expression of alarm and disgust.

“Weak in the knees,”  Eddie supplied, hoping for a laugh, but when Helena’s eyes narrowed to slits he gulped nervously and held his hands up as she stalked toward him determinedly with her handcuffs out.

 

“I was drugged,” Myka insisted for the twelfth time as they walked out of the prison, a pleading tone in her voice that Helena purposefully ignored.

“You were drunk,” she corrected sternly and decided not to observe Myka’s churlish pout.

“I thought it was you,” Myka retorted defensively, since obviously Helena needed reminding that she wasn’t the type to get drunk with strangers on the regular.

“Yes,” Helena drawled and abruptly stopped walking with a calculating look that made Myka inwardly wince and avoid her eyes. That had not been the right thing to say. “About that.”

“What.” It wasn’t the question it was supposed to be.

“When I burst in on the pair of you…” Helena began leadingly, but Myka wasn’t giving her an inch. “Well it looked like a pretty cozy scene.”

“Did it?”

“Mmm hmmm.”

“Huh.”

“Myka.”

“What.”

You got drunk. With someone you thought was me. In your apartment. At night.”

“So?” Myka bit out defensively and started walking again at a quicker place. “You and I have done that plenty of times.”

“Yes. But…” HG wasn’t sure how to reply that none of their evenings had ever ended like that. Granted she hadn’t stumbled upon anything actually happening, but from the half second look she’d gotten after busting the door open… well. She tamped down on the frustration that flared up, pressing her to again wonder how exactly Eddie the Shapeshifter had gotten under Myka’s skin so quickly.

All the frustration Myka felt from the last few hours burst out of her as she whirled around, practically stomping her feet as she spit out, “Do you have an actual question?!” The abruptness of her move made Helena stop short to keep from running into her, a half a foot closer and they would be touching. The night air seemed to suck up all of Myka’s heat in the next minute, cold enough that her heavy breaths were visible for a moment before evaporating and she was left staring at Helena with an expression that begged for rather than demanded an answer.

Still feeling a bit startled from Myka’s sudden turn Helena stood frozen, hands raised halfway up to prevent a collision, though there was no danger of that now. She watched as Myka’s posture softened ever so slightly and she blinked rapidly when she realized she’d been motionless for a moment too long. “No,” she answered, a little unsteadily, stepping back and wrapping her outstretched arms around herself.

“Okay,” Myka replied, softly now. She was palming her neck and staring at the building behind them, where they had just left Eddie Van Blundht with strict instructions for the staff to administer him a muscle relaxant to hopefully stop any of his shifting abilities. Myka grimaced as she realized she’d be putting this case in her mental, ‘I don’t even want to know’ pile. “I have to go home,” she said abruptly, taking small steps toward her car. “Go home and shower.” Her face again pulled into one of disgust and she resisted the urge to physically shake off the lingering sliminess she felt over the whole evening.

Helena’s mouth twitched and she called lightly, “Need a hand with that?” She quickly bit her lip to contain any laugh that would have come from seeing Myka trip so spectacularly at that, though the mirth was wiped quickly away by the scathing look she got from the retreating woman. “I meant getting home,” she offered up unconvincingly, then she smiled the smile that was sometimes helpful in getting her out of trouble. “You don’t appear to be too steady on your feet.”

“You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you,” Myka replied dryly as she rummaged through her bag for her keys.

“Mmm hmm, but obviously you just think I’m pretty.” It was meant to be a tease, the best way Helena could think to safely call attention to the subject they were dancing around without revealing the discontent that had been roiling in the pit of her stomach since crashing through her partner’s door hours ago. However there must have been a little too much of a sulk in her tone, because Myka paused her search, finally looking at her with quiet confusion.

A long moment passed before Myka felt her earlier embarrassment ease enough for her to set it aside as she understood what the underlying tone was in Helena’s words. “Of course I think you’re pretty,” Myka said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe to her it was since she followed that with, “Even people without eyes would think you were pretty, Helena.” Her attention went back to her search for the keys as if it were the most pressing thing in the world.

It didn’t feel like a compliment, maybe since it had been more of a deflection than admission, and Helena frowned at the cement as she kept fighting to ignore the turbulent emotions that wouldn’t let her be. A triumphant jingling of keys managed to steal her attention from the pavement and then Myka’s smile stole it from there.

“But you tell me, Ms. FBI Profiler,” Myka said lightly, though her eyes weren’t laughing, “if I’m the type of person to entrust my life to just any pretty FBI Agent with a penchant for the spooky.”

That wasn’t the point, not nearly at all, but Helena understood what Myka was saying and she shook her head with a small smile of acceptance. She cleared her throat, “Certainly not, though there are so many of us to go around.”

“Well, the accent gives you an edge,” Myka stated solemnly then winked. The air between them wasn’t completely clear but it was getting there and she was exhausted. Maybe the rest of the weekend would be enough to erase the unease she still felt coming from the other woman. “You coming?” she asked with a nod to where she’d parked, assuming Helena’s car was close by.

Helena gave her another small smile, but sighed weightily as she gestured to her left. “My car is this way. Goodnight, Myka.”

Myka watched her walk to her car while working the ground at a jittery pace with the toe of her boot. She inwardly groaned before hurrying after her partner. Catching up she stopped Helena with a hand to her wrist and, coming around from the side to avoid those dark eyes that made everything so much harder, pressed a soft but steady kiss to the woman’s cheek who stilled immediately. “Thanks for the save, partner,” she whispered sincerely and squeezed the arm beneath her hand with emphasis. “Drive safe,” she implored before turning and walking away to her own car without another backwards glance.

 

**Author's Note:**

> These two universes just fit so well together in my head. I couldn't not. I hope you enjoyed. Cheers to AU Week!


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